Pantanal Safari
Pantanal Grassland Lodge
We will spend our first 2 nights at a wonderful lodge run by a very special naturalist. We have stayed here many times and love it. The simple yet comfortable cottages are arranged around a group of trees where Hyacinth macaws and parrots nest, allowing us to get incredibly close images of these rare birds - if they are around of course! Wildlife abounds at this lodge, you only have to walk within the perimeter to find it. We will also take you on 4x4 excursions to visit a friend who has an Ocelot regularly coming to his ranch (which our last group loved photographing), another ranch where there are Giant Anteaters and also locally where we have seen beautiful roseate spoonbills, the shy tapir and of course even a jaguar. The lodge is surrounded by waterways and we will organise a daily photographic excursion for birds and caimans gliding along on our silent electric boat plus you can explore by canoe with one of our expert guides.
It’s a wonderful lodge with great food that will really allow you to recover from your international flight and get into the swing of Brazilian wildlife. Plus of course you will have the advantage of our experience showing you how to get the best results from your cameras in any situation that presents itself! All the images shown below were taken during our last two trips there…and so many more besides….
Pantanal River Lodge
Once we have finished our adventures with maned wolves we will move to our main base for our jaguar photography. Most tours stay at the same hotels at Porto Joffre, therefore on a jaguar sighting you can have upwards of 40 small boats all vying for position. Not something we ever want to do again so a couple of years ago we moved to a much more remote location away from everyone else and it was really successful
We search locally to us and we are usually successful, finding male and female jaguars on a peaceful river. Occasionally we share the encounters with a few other like minded boats, but usually we enjoy them all to ourselves luck permitting. It’s not just the magnificent jaguar that we can find, playful giant otters announce their presence with loud snorts - sometimes even taunting jaguars they find. There are lovely birds all along the quiet waterways and it is a very relaxing experience. Jaguars can be everywhere and nowhere, no one can guarantee sightings but we are in the right place. We never know what we are going to find on the river cruises and we spend several hours each day, in the best light, looking for wildlife to photograph.
You may read somewhere about a “core” area for jaguars, there is really no such thing, it has been propagated by some local lodges to increase business! As the saying goes, jaguars are everywhere and nowhere.
Maned Wolf Lodge
Our local guides have found us an amazing place for the usually elusive and nocturnal Maned Wolf. This beautiful animal comes into the lodge grounds most afternoons and mornings so to ensure that we have the best chance we will stay here overnight. There are very rare animals and in our opinion this is the best place to photograph them but of course there are no guarantees. But if you don’t try then you can never succeed!
Because this is a small lodge we only have 4 guest rooms so for one night you will need to share with another guest of the same sex.
Accommodation and food
Our grassland lodge is really nice, with comfortable rooms and great food (and a nice bar too!). Food is a buffet, traditionally Brazilian but with an international twist. It’s wholesome and tasty!
Our River Lodge is much more basic as it is very remote, rooms are very simple but there are hot showers, ensuite facilities and the food is fresh and home cooked.
Our Maned Wolf Lodge is even more basic, very simple yet clean rooms and good food. For these two lodges please do not expect the usual luxury we have on our tours, that is the price we pay for staying away from everyone else and putting photography before comfort. You must also note that here we have only 4 guest rooms so you will need to share with another traveller of the same sex for one night. This is unavoidable but don’t worry it is only for a night and we only have nice people travelling with us!
Because of the remote nature of these lodge we are not able to cater for special diets apart from vegetarian and vegan (but you must be willing to be adaptable for this) . So just to make the point again the river and maned wolf lodge are very very very very basic! Rooms are spartan but should have working a/c. (no guarantees) Food is basic but good enough. We have no choice here if we want to avoid the crowds and our last client group really loved the location and the food.
Single occupation is possible in all locations and there is a reasonable charged-at-cost single supplement for this tour.
Boat Life
In the Pantanal we will be moving around on low speedboats, as you see below, which give great all round visibility and allow us to ensure that everyone gets a great shot. They are great fun to be in and you will love them. They give a great feeling of being in the environment with the wildlife, are great fun to zoom around on and have plenty of room for kit. We may change the boat to a smaller one depending on the number of clients.
The Guide Team
Lots of people run safaris, what separates our expeditions is the experienced photo and naturalist guide team that we have. Your photo guide for this trip will be multi award winning professional wildlife photographer Andy Rouse who will work alongside his wife Suzie Rouse. In addition we will have superb local naturalist guides Johnny and Giuliano, who have become close friends and have shared many incredible experiences in the Pantanal. It’s only fair to point out that you will not be paying anything for Suzie, Andy pays for all her costs out of his profits even though so performs a great service for the group as an expert spotter (she spots the most on the tour ), lightroom expert and naturalist.
Andy Rouse
Andy Rouse is one of the most successful wildlife photographers out there, you can see here two BBC Wildlife magazine covers from his previous Pantanal grips. Andy has won well over 30 major international awards (click here to see some), been a pro for nearly 25 years and has led photographic expeditions all over the world. He prides himself in only offering the very best destinations, and has built a reputation as one of the best photographic safari guides in the world. Andy’s safari’s are always packed with fantastic opportunities, expert guidance and a drive to get the very best for his clients, as well as being a lot of fun - you are on holiday after all!
Andy shoots with the Sony A1 Mark II, and away from work he is a proud husband, Dad and West Ham fan!
Suzie Rouse
Suzie Rouse is an experienced wildlife photographer and birdwatcher, having travelled all over the world adding to her birding life list and capturing images of some iconic species. Away from the travel Suzie is a University lecturer; specialising in teaching students all about forensic imaging and photography, so she is all to familiar with teaching people how to get the best from their cameras. Suzie processes all her images using Adobe Lightroom, so she is able to complement Andy’s Photoshop tutorials during safaris. She has incredible eyesight and acts a spotter too on all our Pantanal and African safaris.
Travel Trust Association
Now we know that there are a lot of people out there offering photographic tours, however rest assured that this safari is backed by the Travel Trust Association (TTA). The TTA is an independent trade organisation of tour operators that we are proud members of. The TTA provides guarantees for your booking with us in two forms.
The first is that all monies are deposited to a trustee managed trust bank account and any payments to / from them have to be authorised at several levels.
Secondly your booking is protected by the TTA Safe Seat Plan and Supplier Failure
Cover, both of which are insurance policies to protect your money from fraud and
supplier failure.
We include the costs of these policies automatically in your booking fee,
so that you can have total financial confidence in us, and your booking with
us, as a trusted and reputable tour operator.
Further details of our TTA membership can be found by clicking here.
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This is a very easy trip as you will be either on a boat or a 4×4 most of the time. You will need to be patient and able to wait in the heat if we are on a good sighting. Since we are travelling in boats it would be an advantage if you didn’t suffer from motion sickness!
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Comprehensive pre departure information will be provided 3 months before departure. This will cover photo kit, clothing, visas, tips and anything else you need to know.
Lens wise flexibility will be the key here so a couple of zoom lenses and something for wide angles will be ideal. You will need an equivalent 500mm reach for the best jaguar shots.
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We are always very honest with all our clients and when you come on a tour with us you will always know everything, warts and all!
With regard to wildlife sightings there is nothing we can do if wildlife decides not to show. We are good at finding Jaguars but it might be on that day they have other plans. Otters might swim by us. The Ocelot might decide not to visit that week, the macaws might not nest. All of this is beyond our control and you must come with the correct attitude towards wildlife.
All his clients know that Andy and his guide team try their absolute best to get everyone the best photographic opportunities possible, but of course this can be out of our control as the wildlife has other ideas!!! So whilst we look for everything we can, we absolutely cannot guarantee in anyway shape or form that you will see any of these. It can rain. It can be cloudy. The wildlife can be elusive. You must come with this realistic expectations, we do not make false promises. What we can promise is that the team will work 150% to give you the best chances and best experiences possible. That is GUARANTEED!
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The tour is open to both photographers and non photographers. The atmosphere is holiday when we are in the lodge, and wildlife focus when we are out and about.
You must be able to be patient enough to sit and wait for something to happen. You must not expect luxury accommodation here or western luxuries.
Our tours are inclusive, anyone is welcome irrespective of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. We just ask that you come with a smile and a love of wildlife.
Importantly, as with the previous point on managing expectations, you must not come and expect guarantees to find wildlife. We will do our best but sometimes it has other ideas and you MUST understand that.
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Of course we cannot predict this as the world is changing, but in general it's very pleasant at this time of the year. Expect daytime highs of 34C and night time lows of 18C.
The days should be clear but we can get rain and you must be prepared for this. It can be cloudy too so a light fleece is essential. In short it’s unpredictable but we do expect it to be warm. Hopefully.
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The issue is the remote Pantanal lodge. Vegetarian is simple no issue. Vegan should be ok but you will need to be flexible on this.
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Where you have wetlands you have bugs. There are biting insects yes but malaria is considered rare in the Pantanal and drugs are not a requirement. But we will encounter insects and bugs. You rooms might well have some, you will have sprays and some places will have nets. But you must understand that in a wetland there will be bugs!
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The quoted cost includes everything from Cuiaba to Cuiaba.
All international flights to Sao Paulo and then domestic flights onward to Cuiaba will have to be booked by you. This is now our standard policy as many of you have airline preferences. We will tell you what flights we will be on and when your pickup / set down is to Cuiaba. It’s very easy to book to Cuiaba from London - even the BA site allows it!
